Saturday, May 16, 2009

A sad week for our family

My Dad passed away this week Wednesday after a long illness which weakened his heart and kidneys to the point where he couldn't fight the good fight any longer. He loved his wife and family fiercely and would do anything for us. He leaves behind my mother, his wife of more than 51 years, 4 children, 8 grandchildren and many friends along with cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family.

He was a man who cared deeply about his family, his community, and the state of affairs in our state and country. I know he was deeply happy when President Obama was elected this past fall and I'm glad that he got the chance to see the first African American President elected. He supported both me and my older brother in our political aspirations, and I know he was a loyal reader of this blog. Somewhere, he will read this post and a smile will come to his face.

We laid him to rest today, and I know he is finally at peace and in a better place. Congratulations Dad for fighting the good fight and thank you for your love and commitment throughout our lives. You will be missed even as you will still be with us. Rest in peace and we love you.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Vote for Maumee Schools

Tomorrow, May 5, 2009, the citizens of Maumee, OH will be given the choice on whether to support the "Excellent with Distinction" schools in their fine city as denoted by the State of Ohio by passage of an additional 3.9 mill operating levy.

Hopefully the citizens will respond with a resounding yes and further cuts to the superlative educational system in Maumee will be forestalled. Even with passage of the levy, cuts in teaching personnel and elsewhere will be necessary due to reduced funding at the state level. Any further cuts, besides the ones already announced, will seriously continue to jeopardize the ability of the school system to operate at the high level of achievement that residents of Maumee have come to expect and enjoy.

If you are contemplating not voting for the levy to send a message to the state of Ohio regarding fixing the school funding dilemma which has plagued our state for at least the last 12 years, I would suggest the following action: Vote for the levy to keep the schools functioning at a high level of effectiveness; then, contact your locally elected state representatives to ask that they make school funding in Ohio the priority it should be. The folks to contact are State Representative Barbara Sears, and State Senator Mark Wagoner.

Ask these representatives to put aside their other priorities, whatever they may be, and focus on this groundbreaking issue at this time. It may require these elected officials to expend a little political capital and some energy, but if enough citizens contact their offices, we may see some effort from these "leaders" to make progress on this issue.

Irresponsibly pushing this issue off into the future is simply not good enough for the fine citizens in the Maumee, Anthony Wayne, Sylvania and other schools systems in the area Mr. Wagoner and Ms. Sears represent. Contact them and ask that they work on this issue at this time. The citizens of the District 46 community are counting on them to make this issue a priority this year.

Please support our schools until we can figure out another method to fund education. The education of your children and grandchildren, neighbors, and friends are hanging in the balance.